Hipperholme Grammar School is celebrating its pupils’ GCSE successes with an increase in those achieving five or more top-level 9-4 grades.

In-line with the new 1-9 grading system (nine being the highest and which applies to not all, but certain, GCSE subjects), pupils at the school in Bramley Lane, Halifax, had plenty to celebrate.

The school has reported that the number of pupils gaining the equivalent of five GCSE 9-4 grades (A*s to Cs), including English and mathematics, has increased from 80 percent in 2017 to 89 percent in 2018.

There have been some particularly outstanding individual results too, with Sophie Noble gaining the equivalent of eight A*s and As, which included two grade 9s.

Zainab Sajjad achieved the equivalent of eight A*s and As which included four grade 8s and one grade 9.

Meanwhile, Isabelle Williams’ results showed the equivalent of four A*s to As – this included two grade 9s.

Another notable success story came from Nichola Backhouse who achieved the equivalent of six A*s to As, alongside an A she had already gained in art the previous year for a total of seven 9-7 grades.

The school’s Modern Foreign Languages department had an impressive set of results too – with a 100 per cent pass rate in French and German. A total of 25 per cent of those achieved a grade 9 in French and 22 per cent gained the same top grade in German.

Jackie Griffiths, Hipperholme Grammar School headteacher, said: “I am extremely proud of all our GCSE pupils who have exceeded expectation and produced such outstanding results, which reflect the academic aspirations of the school.

“I am delighted that their hard-work has been justly rewarded and thank the staff for their excellent teaching and support throughout their studies.”